Abstract: Objective To explore the intervention mechanism of puerarin(PUR) on the inflammatory response of vascular endothelial cells with KKAy mouse models.Methods C57bL/6j mice were used as the control group. KKAy mice were randomly divided into diabetes group, metformin hydrochloride(MH)and puerarin(PUR) group with 10 in each. The indexes of glucose metabolism in each group were recorded. The contents of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ(IFN-γ), transforming growth factor-β1(TGF-β1), interleukin-1 (IL-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were detected by ELISA; TUNEL method was used to detect apoptosis in vascular tissue; mRNA and protein expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were detected by RT-qPCR and Western blot. Results Compared with the control group, the indexes of glucose metabolism and apoptosis in diabetes group increased significantly; The contents of TNF-α, IFN-γ, TGF-β1, IL-1 and VEGF in serum changed significantly (P＜0.05) and the mRNA and protein expressions of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 in vascular tissue increased significantly(P＜0.05). Compared with diabetes group, MH group and PUR group significantly improved glucose metabolism and cell apoptosis; TNF-α, IFN-γ, TGF-β1, IL-1 and VEGF decreased significantly (P＜0.05); The mRNA and protein expressions of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 were all significantly improved(P＜0.05). Conclusions PUR can effectively inhibit the expression of vascular endothelial inflammatory factors, VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 adhesion molecules in KKAy mice, and alleviate the vascular endothelial injury found in diabetes mice.

Key words: diabetes, puerarin, vascular endothelial injury, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1(VCAM-1), intercellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1)